title: What are the risks and benefits to increasing dietary bone minerals and vitamin D intake in infants and small children?
abstract: Bone minerals and vitamin D are crucial for infants and small children. Human milk has little vitamin D, and supplemental vitamin D must be given to all infants either via drops or as contained in infant formula or foods. The calcium and phosphorus in human milk are adequate for infants in the first six months of life, with supplemental minerals coming from weaning foods after six months. Long-term benefits to providing bone minerals at greater levels than in human milk have not been shown. There is no evidence to support high-dose bone mineral supplementation or high-dose vitamin D supplementation in infancy, and controlled trials are needed before these can be advocated.
authors.affiliation: United States Department of Agriculture/Agricultural Research Service, Children's Nutrition Research Center, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA. sabrams@bcm.edu
authors.forename: Steven A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Abrams
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001846:Bone Development; D001903:Bottle Feeding / Q000009:adverse effects; D001942:Breast Feeding / Q000009:adverse effects; D002136:Calcium, Dietary / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D019587:Dietary Supplements / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D039382:Maternal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D009751:Nutritional Requirements; D016226:Phosphorus, Dietary / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011247:Pregnancy; D018570:Risk Assessment; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects*
chemical_list: D002136:Calcium, Dietary; D016226:Phosphorus, Dietary; D014807:Vitamin D